DSL.net bundles voice with data

DSL.net today announced a host of new voice options for its data customers, fully integrating its Talking Nets voice over IP service with its SDSL and T-1 network.

Less than three months after closing its acquisition of Talking Nets, DSL.net has launched integrated voice and data services over DSL, starting in the Washington, D.C., metro area and expanding to New York in early 2004 and filling in the major cities in its Atlantic seaboard footprint by the end of that year. Customers can now choose from 17 different bundles comprised of T-1, SDSL and from two to 16 phone lines. Previously, DSL.net only sold voice services over Talking Nets former T-1 network, offering a minimum of eight lines per service package.

"We’re preparing for the different types of voice needs our current customers have," said Ray Allieri, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We’re making it very easy for our existing customers to gravitate to voice. We’re offering 17 different bundles, but we imagine our customers will settle on a few preferred bundles."

Early reaction from customers to DSL.net’s venture into voice has been positive and many customers have asked the carrier for the service in the last year, Allieri said. In addition, with bundling becoming popular among other carriers and the incumbents, DSL.net wanted to get a head start in offering integrated services.

"We’re taking a different approach than most carriers," Allieri said. "Instead of trying to sell data to voice customers, we’re selling voice to our data customers. It’s a much easier sell. Voice may be a complicated technology, but our customers don’t perceive that way. We think we’ve already done the hard part."